Cadillac suspends vehicle subscription service

Cadillac is suspending its Book by Cadillac vehicle subscription service Dec 1 ahead of a planned relaunch of the programme early next year.
Andrew Lipman, a Cadillac spokesman, confirmed the plans, following a Wall Street Journal report Friday, citing unnamed sources that Cadillac was planning to scrap the programme.
“Book by Cadillac is not canceled,” Lipman said. “We are stopping it for a short period of time to then relaunch it based off the learning we have made in early Q1. We are hitting the pause button and we will be back.”
Lipman declined to disclose what changes the company expects to make to the program or the number of subscribers enrolled in Book, which operates in New York City, Dallas and Los Angeles.
The plan to retool the program follows the appointment of a new president at Cadillac this year and a decision to move the General Motors brand’s headquarters back to Michigan from New York City.
When launched in early 2017, Book by Cadillac was dubbed a potentially revolutionary way to access a vehicle. Automakers such as Porsche, Mercedes-Benz and Volvo have followed Cadillac with their own subscription programmes.
The program’s $1,800 monthly fee covers insurance and other costs, such as maintenance. Subscribers could swap in and out of Cadillac vehicles with no long-term commitment.
Cadillac has consistently expanded and made changes to the programme since its launch, including increasing the monthly cost by $300 and limiting subscribers to a maximum of 2,000 miles per month.
While not profitable, Book is part of Cadillac’s long-term plans to venture into nontraditional automotive segments and retail models. Melody Lee, former head of the programme, who left Cadillac in August, previously told Automotive News that it was a goal to eventually make Book a profitable business unit.
Anyone can reach Michael Wayland at mwayland@crain.com